First of the First
by queenofowls
Summary: It's the first day of school for Dedue's first child. Together, they go, hand in hand.


**/Written for Dedue Week | Day 3 Prompt: School/**

**Contains references to Retrograde.**

* * *

"Daddy, can we go _now?_" Vina hastens for the door before feeling a firm hand clasp down on her shoulder.

"Not before you eat something." His daughter protests.

"But _Daddy_, I'll be late." Dedue folds his arms, staring down at her imposingly.

...Not that the stare has any effect. She stares up at him with the same petulant stare. He wonders from time to time if he's lost his touch, or if his daughter is just _that_ accustomed to the expression. He relents.

"You can eat on the way." He offers his hand for her to take as she frowns, grasping it lightly. "And your hair ribbon... Where it is?"

"Dunno." Dedue lifts an eyebrow and opens his mouth to respond when he decides against it, letting out a breath instead. He mutters to himself as he leads her to the kitchen.

"Ah, yes... your mother told me I needed to purchase a new one for you. We can take care of it after school, before she catches wind." He runs his opposing hand through his daughter's hair, then kneels down to the five year old's height, smoothing the long strands from her face. His own pale eyes stares back at him as she bounces from foot to foot with eager but unsurprisingly quiet energy.

If they don't leave soon, they'll be late. As if she reads his mind, Vina chimes up at him.

"Daddy, we need to _go_." He nods, throat tight for a moment. It seemed just yesterday that she was a much smaller, swaddled in blankets with lungs that could only scream and coo and yawn. _I love you_, he thinks as he tucks her hair behind her ears, then pinches her nose in earnest.

"You're right. Just wait a moment."Dedue stands, and pours her a glass of juice and places it on the table. "Drink this while I prepare your meal." Frowning, Vina climbs up into the chair, settling down comfortably and letting out a huffy breath as she takes the glass in both hands, draining as much of the juice as she can. Quickly, Dedue cuts a thick slice off the loaf of bread he'd baked the night before, smothering it with apple jam and salted butter.

"Take your breakfast. You can eat it on the way. We'll leave when you finish your juice." Backing away to lean against the counter, Dedue watches as Vina kicks her feet impatiently. She doesn't look up at him until the cup is empty, her cheeks full of juice as she slips out of the chair. Taking her breakfast in hand, Vina turns towards her father in earnest.

"Now?" She gurgles the word through full cheeks. Instead of replying, Dedue holds out his hand.

She doesn't slip her hand inside, choosing to reach up her arms and be picked up. If his wife were here, she would tell him she is much too old to be carried but... he cannot help himself. _There will come a day when she is too large to lift and such chances will be gone,_ he tells himself as he effortlessly hoists Vina into his arms.

Unaware of his thoughts, she settles against him as he carries her towards the door. He reaches for the handle when his daughter makes a loud announcement. "Bye-bye, Mama! I'm going to school now!" Dedue hushes his daughter.

"Your mother is resting. We shouldn't disturb her." For all of his efforts to quiet, there is the quiet sound of slow footsteps behind them.

"Are you leaving already?" Dedue turns to see his very pregnant wife making her way down the stairs. Vina kicks her feet excitedly.

"Yes!" Alarm flushes through him but Byleth puts up her hands in protest before he can even speak. Completing the journey down the staircase, Byleth's eyes slip over Vina's form, pausing before looking flatly towards her father.

"Where's her hair ribbon? Didn't I ask you to buy a new one?" Seeing his guilty expression, she shakes her head, cradling her stomach absentmindedly. "It's fine. I'll go to the market later. I need the exercise."

"You don't have to. I was going to take Vina there after her school session ends." But Byleth is already shaking her head.

"I already have some other things I'd like to purchase. It's easiest to do it now while I have the energy. Besides, I can take my time." Her attempts to soothe his worries are fruitless, his frown refusing to ease.

Dedue finally speaks.

"We can go together."

They look at each other for a long moment and, to his great relief, Dedue watches her let out a relenting sigh. "Together, then. But for now, please get Vina to school. It's better than standing here, fretting over me." His frown deepens again for a long moment, indecision in his bones. He can't really afford to let his daughter be late on her first day of school but... seeing his wife on her feet when she is so heavy with child...

Vina decides for him, starting to squirm in his arms.

"Daddy, let's go!"

"Listen to Vina. She's a smart girl." Byleth draws close, touching his arm with a firm hand as she tucks stray hairs behind Vina's ear. "You _know_ I can't relax when you start hovering." She waves him away. "I'm serious, Dedue. _Go._"

He bends to touch his forehead lightly to hers. He is not one for public displays of affection, but it is the only way he can comfort himself enough to leave her side and go out into the bustling town. "The market... please wait until I return, petal."

"If I'm feeling patient."

_"Byleth." _His tone is warning, but as with his daughter, it has no effect. He stares at her in exasperation, but to his chagrin, Byleth only laughs as she makes her way to the kitchen.

The streets of New Cuenca are busy with the morning sounds of its bustling citizens. Around him, he acknowledges the greetings that call out to him with silent nods, the attention only less unsettling because he encounters it daily. Dedue walks steadily down the road with Vina in his arms, the little girl munching on her bread as they pass the bustle of the newborn city. There is not a building here older than three years in most of the town's streets, but it is slowly but surely growing.

By His Royal Highness King Dimitri's own decree, initial settlers' rights for those of Faerghus belonged to those of Duscur descent, but fear and distrust had made that first, empty year difficult. At first, no one who remembered the Day of Blood and Years wanted to return-and he could not blame them. But... just two years ago, a teacher from Fhirdiad had chosen to move her family to the city. Then, the merchants came. A blacksmith. A banker. Slowly but surely, New Cuenca is growing-in no small part because of his presence there... and most importantly, that of a certain single surviving descendant of the former royal family of Duscur, certainly but surely on her way to become queen.

"Daddy?"

"Mhm?"

"When I go to school, I'm going to make a lot of friends and then I'm going to play with them and then we'll play games and I'll win all of them!" She says the words with a mouth full of food, chewing whenever she needs to breathe. "Or most of them."

"Surely you can." She clings to her father, pressing a sticky kiss to his cheek. He is sure she will make friends easily, being more social than either his wife or himself. He can only thank their many friends for that-Flayn, for playing with the child when, as new parents, they were much too tired to go on, needing one... at least one day to themselves.

Granted, there was that unexpected feeling on those "rest days" where, upon waking, their apartments felt much too empty without the restless infant to let her stay away for more than those needed hours of sleep, but... they'd happened frequently enough that he could see the influence of their friends and feel grateful towards it.

_Has it really been five years since she was born...?_

He approaches the newly built school with something like pleasure, something like trepidation, as he sets his daughter down. It looks nothing like the school he attended as a child, but the design, chosen by Faerghus' newest cabinet, the Duscur Foundation for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, is perfect, down to the curved, layered clay roof tile crowning the building. He looks down at Vina and-

Unsurprisingly, her face is a mess. _How did you get butter on your eyebrows...?_ He wonders, reaching into his pocket for the damp cloth waiting there. "Where is my daughter? I wonder if this little breakfast goblin beside me knows." Vina giggles as he uses the cloth to wipe off her face. "Ah? There she is." He teases her. "I almost couldn't find you." Dedue pinches her nose lightly through the cloth. "Blow." There is a small trumpeting noise and, satisfied, Dedue stands at the school gate. Looking up at the clock tower on the building, he pats her on the head, then kneels down to her eye level.

"You have eleven minutes. Are you ready?"

"Ready!" _Except for your hair ribbon_, he thinks with amusement as again, he tucks her long silvery hair behind the both of her ears. Vina turns toward the school building, running across the small front garden indoors with excitement.

Her first day of school. It fills him with delight and dread for the future but he cannot help but feel his heart soar as he thinks of the coming child in Byleth's belly. Today, he thinks, is the first day of school but there are still many more firsts to come.

He cannot wait.


End file.
